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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120845">Shortcake</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/liberty_barnes/pseuds/liberty_barnes'>liberty_barnes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Direction (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, How does one tag things?, I promise it's better than it sounds, In the best possible way, Liam is a Good Friend, Lots of that, OT5 Friendship (One Direction), THEY'RE ON HIATUS BUT THEY'RE STILL FRIENDS, and Peter Pan, and banter too, and i will stand by that, and the reader calls him shortcake, as usual, harry styles loves pregnant women, idk - Freeform, liam's a gift to humanity really, louis forgot how to human for a second, niall's hungry, okay let's go, um, zayn is done with their shit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:15:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120845</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/liberty_barnes/pseuds/liberty_barnes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Speaking of leaving, my friend (Y/n) should be getting here in about five minutes or so, just so I can introduce you."<br/>(Y/n)...<br/>(Y/n)?<br/>"Who the hell's (Y/n)?"<br/>"That would be me, Shortcake."<br/>Alright, what?<br/>He turned around, ready to scold whoever dared call him such a derogatory name, but...<br/>Well, alright.<br/>Not what he was expecting.</p><p>[or, the one where Louis's PA needs a temporary replacement and Louis forgets how to human properly]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Louis Tomlinson/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Shortcake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Louis hugged his friends, still hyped up after his performance on the Late Late Show. The five of them made a point of meeting up at least once a month and as it turned out, they managed to reorganize their schedule so they could see Louis's performance and watch one of Harry's concerts here in LA. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That was wicked, mate!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled at the praise, patting Liam on the back and moving to hug Zayn next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That new song was great, you did a good job."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was nothing if not a people pleaser.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks, lads, I appreciate that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took one of the water bottles on top of the table and drained half of it in one gulp, panting slightly from the effort of his performance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright, so what are we thinking? Food, then tattoo parlour, then get drunk at mine's or tattoo parlour straight away then get food and drunk at mine's?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry asked, already tearing into the bananas Louis asked his PA to buy him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of PA...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Louis! That was great, ugh you did such a good job, I'm so proud!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hugged Samantha as best he could with her seven months pregnant belly, smiling brightly. Despite only being two years older than him, she treated him like her child, claiming that it was practice for when hers actually came along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks, Sammie."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel Harry vibrating in his seat from eight feet away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Go sit down on the couch before Curly gets a stroke."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes but complied anyway, immediately getting assaulted by big, ring-clad hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How far along are you now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Seven months. It was my last day before that twat forced me to take my maternity leave."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, I take Baby's health and comfort very seriously. I'd be a shitty godfather if I didn't."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And it's true. From the moment he learned that Samantha and her wife, Jenna wanted to have a baby, he went above and beyond to make everything better for them. He paid for all the IVF treatments, all the pregnancy necessities, furnished Baby's nursery and gave her an extra-long, fully paid maternity leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Speaking of leaving, my friend (Y/n) should be getting here in about five minutes or so, just so I can introduce you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Y/n)...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Y/n)?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who the hell's (Y/n)?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That would be me, Shortcake."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alright, what?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned around, ready to scold whoever dared call him such a derogatory name, but...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, alright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not what he was expecting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl in front of him was wearing black ripped jeans, a black corset top, black heeled boots, black leather jacket...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, all black really.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except for her lipstick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was bright red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He should maybe say something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Um, hello."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, give him a break, she's gorgeous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sup, Peter Pan?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hey Google, answer this: What are words and to use them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Boys, meet my best friend (Y/n), she'll be the one taking over for me while I'm on maternity leave."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam grinned wickedly and Zayn immediately turned to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What? Introduce two of my greatest friends to each other? This meeting's long overdue."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled innocently while Liam only squinted his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"His dream girl. I know. Sassy, gorgeous as hell, incredibly smart, and one of the kindest people I've ever met. Good news is he fits her 'dream guy' description too. Hot, kind, cool enough to prank people with her, sassy enough to challenge her, and most of all, he's got an amazing ass which I know for a fact she'll drool over in a little bit."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked incredibly pleased with herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall's been laughing for five minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Louis kept staring at future Mrs Tomlinson.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, I'm gonna be your PA for a while. Do you have any special needs? Certain foods, a dress code, a specific brand of tights?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Banter. Flirty banter. Okay. He can do that. He's done it a hundred times before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, never with his wet-dream-come-true, but still, he can do that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course, only the best tights for me, wouldn't want my best asset to be overlooked."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she made her way to his backside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I agree. Dunno why your drummer hasn't taken advantage of it. With an ass like that, who needs a drum kit?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She punctuated it with a slap to his bum and he had to bite his lip to not do anything embarrassing like... moan... or something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How are you feeling Sam? Baby giving you much trouble?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He missed the girl's frantic eye-widening from his position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Along with how she mouthed 'fuck he's hot'.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Samantha had 'smug' written all over her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Baby's fine, don't worry. I should get going, actually, my flight's in two hours and I still have to drive all the way to the airport."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry made a distressed noise in the back of his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You are NOT driving to the airport at seven months pregnant. I'll take you there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam chimed in immediately after.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll carry the bags!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can we get food on the way?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis looked from Niall to Zayn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I'd rather be in a car with Preggo, Crazy, Hungry, and Daddy Direction over there than be stuck in this sexual tension cauldron. See ya."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And with that, they were alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So... You gonna tell me what I have to do or am I supposed to guess?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Operation: Badass Flirty Hot Dude has begun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I was just gonna tell you, but having you guess sounds like a fun idea."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Look her up and down, run your tongue over your lips, bite it, eye contact.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That's what Tik Tok said, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't have Tik Tok, that's untrue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes and took a step closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Two feet of space between each other!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>His brain screamed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's fine. This is totally fine. Just keep being sassy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Mmm, I don't know. Read your emails and just brief you on the key points?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Set up interviews. Make sure they only ask you the questions you want them to ask you, to hell with your PR team."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, she's perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're hired."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She giggled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't have a choice in the matter, actually, but it's cute that you think you do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snorted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I always have a choice. Didn't Sam tell you I'm the boss 'round here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked him up and down and leaned up so she could whisper in his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll see about that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He did not shiver, his limbs were starting to fall asleep and he had to shake them out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, we have at least two hours until they come back. Mind continuing this discussion over pizza?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She'll be the death of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And what a sweet death it'll be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure. I'm paying."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's the only reason I offered, Shortcake."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>reblog this post on tumblr: <a href="https://liberty-barnes.tumblr.com/post/632508137166028800/shortcake">click here</a></span>
</p><p>
  <span>follow me on tumblr: <a href="liberty-barnes.tumblr.com">click here</a></span>
</p><p>
  <span>learn more about me: <a href="https://liberty-barnes.carrd.co/">click here</a></span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hope you guys liked it! love you loads!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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